Husband of accused USC hit-and-run driver arrested

LOS ANGELES - LOS ANGELES (AP) - A man suspected of pulling a badly injured USC student off a car windshield after a deadly hit-and-run accident was arrested while trying to cross back into the United States from Mexico, police said Saturday.

Josue (HOH'-sway) Luna, 32, of Los Angeles, was detained by federal agents at the San Ysidro border crossing at about 5:30 p.m. Friday after his name prompted a computer alert that he was wanted in Los Angeles, LAPD Officer April Harding said.

Luna was driven back to Los Angeles by LAPD officers and jailed on suspicion of being an accessory to the hit-and-run, Harding said.

He was released at about noon Saturday on $50,000 bail, she said.

Luna did not have a telephone listing in Los Angeles and police did not know whether he had retained a lawyer.

Police contend Luna was a passenger in a car that ran a red light and struck two students in a crosswalk near the University of Southern California on March 29.

Police said that after hitting the students, Luna got out of the car and pulled Garfinkle off the windshield where he had lodged. Garfinkle was left bleeding in the street while the car drove away, authorities said.

Garfinkle's father, Myron Garfinkle, issued a statement following Saturday's arrest saying, "We are happy to see justice being served for our family, the other family, and for everyone who lives in Los Angeles."

Luna's wife, Claudia Cabrera, 30, of Los Angeles, was arrested April 2. She has pleaded not guilty to felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, and remained jailed on $1 million bail.

Police have said that Cabrera was driving with a suspended license and that her 7-month-old son was in the car at the time of the collision.